Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to an opening arrangement
for a package of the type which is provided with a pouring
opening located in a preferably plane sur:Eace, which opening
arrangement comprises a cover strip applied over the pouring
opening, which covers the pouring opening as well as the
surrounding area.
In the packing of liquid foods, e.g. milk,disposable
packages of a laminated material are beingused more and more
frequently. These packages are provided with different types
of opening arrangements, for example tearing directions or
; holes punched out in the package, which are covered by a
tear-o~f cover strip.
Such an opening arrangement comprises a hole located
in the upper surface of the package, which is covered with a
cover strip which covers the pouring opening as well as the
surrounding area. The cover strip is formed from a -thermoplastic
material, e.g. polyvinyl chloride and the part which covers
the pouring opening has been given by thermoforming, an inwardly
curving position, such that it extends past the inside edge of
the pouring opening, this inwardly curved part having been
given a cross-sectional area parallelwith the pouring opening,
which is greater than the area of the pouring opening.
By such shape of the cover strip a snap or press
button effect is obtained, which make re-closing of the pouring
opening by means of the cover strip possible. The recessed area
of the cover strip gives the cover strip a profiled cross-
section which provides greater rigidity in the cover strip and
makes the same more difficult -to bendO This is a disadvantage in
the manufacture of packages provided with such cover strips, since
the material used for such packages is provid~d with pouring
~ holes as well as with cover strips at an early stage in the
; manufacture of the packages. The material provided with cover
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strips passes in the packaging machine along a fairly irregular
track over guide rollers and -the like before it is formed to
individual packages, and during this procedure -there are
considerable risks that the applied rigid cover strips may
crack or come loose. The relatively high rigidity of the cover
strip is also a disadvantage when the packages are to be opened,
since the recessed area is easily cracked during the tearing of~
from the packages, which makes difficult, and in some cases
may render impossible, a sa-tisfactory re-closure of the pouring
opening.
The present invention provides an opening arrangement
of the type mentioned which is not subject to the disadvantages
of the opening arrangements known previously and which is pliable
and has good re-closability without as a result becoming more
complicated or more expensive to manufacture than the known
opening arrangement described above.
In accordance with the present invention there is
provided an opening arrangement of the type heretofore described
` in which the area of the cover strip covering the pouring opening
has two or more recessed zones which are situated close to parts
of the periphery of the pouring opening and are shaped so that
they extend partly underneath the material edge surrounding
the pouring opening.
According to the present invention therefore there is
provided an opening arrangement for a package of the type
which is provided with a pouring opening located in a surface of
the packing material forming the package, said opening arrangement
comprising a cover strip disposed on the outside of the packing
material o~erthe pouring opening which covers the pouring opening
as well as the surrounding area, the area of the cover strip
~' covering the pouring opening having at least two recessed zones
which are situated close to the periphery of the pouring opening
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and are shaped to extend partly underneath the edge defining the
pouring opening. Suitably the cover strip is disposed on an
elongated or oval pouring opening in a preferably plane surface
of the package and has at each end of the area covering the
pouring opening a recessed zone. Suitably the cover strip is
made of a thermoformable material.
In one embodiment of the present invention the area
of the cover strip covering the pouring opening is connected with
an impervious material layer, which is sealed to an area on the
10 inside of the packing material surrounding the pouring opening.
Desirably the impervious material layer is sealed to the
inside of the packing material in a ring-shaped area, which extends
around the pouring opening at a small distance therefrom.
Suitably the impervious material layer is made of polyethylene.
The present invention will be further described by way
of the accompanying schematic drawing in which;
; Fig. 1 is a perspective of the upper part of a packing
container with an opening arrangement in accordance with one embod-
iment of the invention, and
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of part of the package
according to Fig. 1 provided with pouring opening and cover strip.
The package 1 shown on the drawing is parallelepipedic
and is manufactured from a laminated material 2, which comprises
a carrier layer of paper and layers of thermoplastic material on
both sides thereof (not shown). The laminated packing material
2 may also comprise layers of e.g. aluminium foil or foamed
; plastic material. The packing container 1 has a substantially
plane sur~ace 3, in which an oval pouring opening 4 is punched
out. The pouring opening 4 is covered by a cover strip 5, which
30 also covers the portion of the upper surface 3 of the package
adjacent and around the pouring opening 4. A part of the cover
strip 5 extends beyond the said surface to form there a pull-tab 6.
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The part of -the cover strip 5 covering the pouring opening 4 is
connected on its side facing the inside of the packing container
1 with an impervious material layer 7, which is also sealed
to the area on the inside of the packing material which surrounds
the pouring opening 4.
The area of the cover strip 5 covering the pouring
opening 4 has two recessed zones 8, each of which ls situated
at one end of the oval pouring opening ancl close to the peripheral
edge thereof. The zones 8 are shaped to extend partially under-
neath this edge. In particular, each of the zones 8 is in the formo a crescent-shaped recess, whose semicircular peripheral part
to the greater part has a depth which somewhat exceeds the
thickness of the packing material 2, whilst the linear peripheral
part is in the same horizontal plane as the main part of the cover
strip 5, that is to say, that part of th~e cover strip 5 which
rests on the upper surface 3 of the package 1. On the part of
- each zone 8 which extends farthest down towards the centre of the
package a lip-shaped element 9 is present which embraces the
edge of the pouring opening 4 and rests against the inside of
the packing material 2.
The impervious material layer 7, which may consist,
for example, of hot-melt coated polyethylene is sealed to the
' inside of the packing material 2 in a ring-shaped area which
extends around the pouring opening 4 at a distance therefrom.
The material layer 7 is however not sealed to the inside of the
packing material in the area situated directly adjoining the
peripheral edge of the pouring opening 4, which makes it
possible for the lip-shaped element 9 to extend partially in ~ ;
between the back of the packing material and the material layer 7.
`~ 30 The opening arrangement in accordance with the present
invention is conventionally applied to the packing material 2
whilst the material is in form of a web. In the packing material
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web pouring openings ~ are punched out at equal intervals,
whereafter the area around these openings 4 is heated up by
means of e.g. hot air. As the feed of -the web progresses the
pouring openings are covered by means of strips of e.g. hot-
melt coated polyethylene, which is cut off in the required
length from strip-shaped material and is applied to the back
of the packing material over the pouring openings so as to form
there the said impervious layer 7. Directly after this the
application of the cover strip 5 takes place, which is also cut
off from strip-shaped material, e.g. acryloplastic. The cover
strip 5 is retained in flat shape and is deep-drawn after
application over the pouring hole, as a result of which the cover
strip as well as the strip forming the impervious layer 7 are
given the desired shape and are joined to one another. The
moulding of the strips, which are both made of thermoformable
material, is effected by placing a suitably shaped mould
against the back of the packing material underneath the pouring
opening, whereupon the strips are pressed down by means of
compressed air into the recesses of the mould.
By substituting the recessed area covering the whole
of the pouring opening in conventional opening arrangements,
` with the two zones 8 situated at a distance from one another
^~ in accordance with the present invention, the cover s-trip 5
has a flexibility and pliancy which allows the rolling up of
the packing material 2 provided with cover strips5 without
the cover strips cracking or being damaged. This advantage is
especially noticeable in the case where the pouring opening
consists of an oblong or oval hole, which is often the case,
since an oblong hole during emptying of the package allows the
intake of air into the package whilst the contents are poured,
thus imparting good pouring characteristics. When such long
pouring openings were closed with cover strips of the conventional
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type, the cover strip occasionally cracked when the consumer
opened the package, so that an effective re-closing of the
package was rendered difficult or impossible. These disadvantages
are eliminated by the cover strip in accordance with the present
invention, since this, due to its two-part recessing possesses
great pliability and allows strong bending also in transverse
direction over the elongated area covering the pouring opening.
Instead of applying the impervious layer 7 to the back,
it is of course also possible to fix and tighten the cover strip
5 directly to the upper side of the packing material or to the
edges of the pouring opening ~, which in certain cases may prove
advantageous.
In the conventional cover strip the formation of the
large recessed area also entailed the formation of a marked
waist onthe cover strip just in the area covering the pouring
opening, since the relatively large amount of material required
for the recessing led to a pulling in of the edgesof the material
strip. This disadvantage is also eliminated, since in the cover
strip in accordance withthe present invention the amount of
material required for the formation of the two recessed zones 8
is considerably less. Furthermore, due to the special slope of
the recessed zones 8 and the gradual transition of the edge, from
maximum depth in the central area of the semicircular part of
the periphery to the plane surfaces in the linear part of the
periphery of the recesses, a control of the direction in which
the material required for the recesses is pulled has been
achieved. The cover strip of the present invention thus results
~ in a pulling in longitudinal direction of the strip, which
; effectively prevents the formation of a waist on the strip.
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